Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Our Cone-Headed Dog - and his trip to the vet.

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UPDATE BELOW.

Poor Seth - affectionately known as Seffers. He has had it really rough lately. After his abduction and trip to the pound, we've had to keep him on a short leash. Literally.





At first we left him tied up all day, as he likes to make his rounds. The mean neighbor keeps a shed and pen full of hound dogs. He's got a puppy mill, and he didn't put it up by his house, it's built against our fence line in the back where Seth patrols. This is very efficient. He doesn't have to hear the dogs bark, or smell them, or even go back to feed them anymore, as they are all now automated in their cages. It's only we who get to hear them and smell them, and chase them off when he lets them go for a practice hunting run. Ah, but I digress. It was on one of Seth's rounds at the back of the property that the mean neighbor Shang-Hai-ed him.

These are the events that add interest to life. What else would we talk about if it were not for the challenges? I mean besides vacations to the seaside, nightly feasts, and how unusual and utterly delightful it is that we never have any problems...

After a few weeks, we found that we could let him go, but leave his rope trailing behind him, and it seems to be enough to keep him close to the house and out of danger's way. But we do tie him back up whenever we leave the house, and we are gone a lot.

His range has been reduced, and because of longer times tied up, he's developed spots where his skin is getting rough and irritated. On top of that, he's begun to worry them.

Right on top of his head, just above his ears are the worst two places. I don't think they are mites, as he does not seem to be trying to scratch IN his ears, just on top of them. So we are treating the spots with ointment, and we fashioned a cone for his head.





So far it's lasted 24 hours, and it's made out of poster board we pulled out of our home schooling material pile. Even if we have to make a new one every day, it will still be cheaper than having to purchase a cone, I'm sure.





But oh, the indignity!

UPDATE - After rising this morning and seeing the cone still on, AND in good shape, I began patting myself on the back for being so ingenious. We changed the cone and saw his ear wounds were improved, and continued patting ourselves on the back for being ingenious.

Then the new cone was torn off in a frenzy of unbridled passionate digging about the head with natural paw daggers, and I realized we cannot beat this thing. So we took a trip to the vet.

Mind you, there is no money for this. But the thought of dying from long-term scratching, and slowly bleeding to death brought many memories of my own health troubles to the forefront, and off we went packing.

Poor dog has a yeast infection in his ears, and what I thought was mere fleas all this time, is really very itchy skin. Nary a flea on this dog, amazingly enough. I can no longer affectionately call him a flea-bitten mutt. He's as flea-free as they come.

So we left the office well over a hundred dollars in the hole, and armed with sprays, drops, a steroid-injected dog, and instructions to improve his diet and try to find what is not agreeing with him. Ouch!

Despite it all, he's still out there scratching, but we have already lost so much time just standing there attempting to prevent him from scratching, that we've got to let it go and hope the drugs do the trick here very soon.

If you think about it, send a little prayer for Seth's skin to settle down. I know it's a small thing, but having suffered at the cruel hands of yeast before.... well, I'm sure you know how much he'd appreciate being well.

So yeast is not 'in your head'. Let's hope it's only in your bread.

~Faith

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14 comments:

  1. Hi there. You could try giving that poor pup some yogurt. Just a little ol plain yogurt( about a tbsp, mixed in his food.

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  2. Oh, dear. Our Golden, Beau, has the same problems. Only we really can't afford to take him to the vet. We have tried changing his diet, but the ears are still smelly and itchy. I have been cleaning them with a mixture of equal parts alcohol and vinegar. Soaking a cottomball with that, squishing it in his ear, then quickly cleaning the ear with a paper towel. Gunky mess.
    He now has a small mass of what is likely blood on his ear flap. All swollen and filled. From the head shaking, we figure. We are trying to treat it naturally, but wonder if it is going nowhere, fast. IF we did have any extra $$$, we would use it to pay the bills that are past due.Know what I mean? YIKES! What did they do in Laura Ingall's day?

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  3. Kelle,

    Good idea! I'll try that. I could begin making kefir again, and add that as well. I've been so lazy about it.

    We are also going to give him several eggs a day. We have plenty to spare, and it's close to a perfect food, packed with vitamins and minerals. Just no eggshell - don't want to teach him to look for eggs.

    ~Faith

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  4. Cyn,

    Is it a hematoma? Seth has had a couple of those on his ears before. One burst and really changed the structure of his earlobe. You can pop them, and apply compression to stop the bleeding, I believe. But you better do some research yourself before following that advice, as I'm not 100% sure of it.

    Now that I know it's yeast, at least I can combat it somewhat. I never thought of yeast on a dog, though I guess I should have. I need to better his immune system, and like you, combat the fungus on the outside, and try to reduce itching.

    I have read you can give dogs Benadryl, or a generic form of it. That would really help Beau. I know that sure helps me when I'm suffering with all sorts of itching.

    I wonder about an OTC yeast cream...?

    I know what you mean. If I'd have dreamed it would cost me that much, we'd have never gone. I am putting off so many things right now, that this money could have gone to. I was prepared to be shocked by 40 or 50 dollars. I had no idea the skin scraping would cost another 20, the steroid shot, another 20... etc.

    When will I learn to ask 'How much?' before allowing a vet to do stuff?

    I hope our info is helpful to Beau. Seth got a steroid shot, some ear drops called Surolan otic suspension (4 drops twice daily in ear ear), and Pramoderm spray, which is a skin soother and anesthetic to numb the irritation. You could look them up on sites like PetMeds.com maybe?

    ~Faith

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  5. We give our Patches Benadril to stop him from scratching, and one prayer is on the way as well.

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  6. Thanks Chai Chai,

    How do you dose?

    ~Faith

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  7. Our daughter's dog turned out to be allergic to wheat and now has to feed him a rice diet.

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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  8. From one dog loving family to another, here's hoping Seth feels better real soon...you took the right approach, seek professional medical advice, even though costly, well worth it!!! Good luck and keep us posted!!!

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  9. Our vet told me to give Patches(14 lbs) 25 mg three times a day(every 8 hours}. He usually ends up get it only twice a day because I can't seem to remember the mid day dose. I agree the OTC yeast oint might be worth a try. By the way, Vet Rx is a herbal treatment that is good for ear mites if you end up with a case of those. I think Patch might end up on a rice diet himself.

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  10. Linda,

    Wheat, rice. It all seems strange to me. Dogs like meat. But it sure is expensive. I have friends that used to pick up the grocery stores unsold chicken and feed that raw.

    Seth does eat a lot of grass. But he always throws up afterward.

    ~Faith

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  11. Dean,

    Thanks! I know how much you love your beautiful dogs. :o)

    ~Faith

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  12. Chai,

    Thank you, very much! I'd been wondering about being ready to give that to Seth if it became necessary. So it is so helpful to have the dosage ready.

    Thanks for all that info!

    ~Faith

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  13. Yeast is hard to get rid of in a dog and harder in a cat; my white cat has had it for almost 5 years. I can't treat him for anything that requires drops in the ears or pills or liquid in the mouth. I come out of the confrontation dripping blood. So I told him he could die of his yeast....and he hasn't yet but he is miserable some times. It doesn't go away by it's self.

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  14. S's Mom,

    LOL Cats are really tough to medicate.

    Poor cat. And poor you! Even wrapping them in sheets or towels is really tough. I got to where I was pretty good at it, when I had several cats to deal with, but much of the time they could wriggle out quite well.

    ~Faith

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